Summer benefit Saturday at El Sol Brillante Community Garden on 12th Street

[Image via]

Via the EVG inbox...

El Sol Brillante Community Garden on 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B is hosting their Summer Benefit this Saturday, June 9, from noon to moon. There will be live music, food (BBQ!), refreshments, tie-dye for kids (and adults!).

Admission is free and everyone is welcome. All proceeds from food/refreshments/tie-dye go directly to the garden for fence repair and general maintenance.

Grant Shaffer's NY See

Here's this week's NY See, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's comic series — an observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood.

I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant

East Village resident Susan Schiffman has been photographing the apartments of rent-stabilized tenants living in the East Village for her Instagram account, I Am a Rent Stabilized Tenant. She will share some of the photos here for this ongoing EVG feature.



Photos and text by Susan Schiffman

Tenant: Birdie, since 2013

Why did you come to the East Village?

The boy. He had been living here for years before me. When I met him I had been in a rocky relationship and we just clicked right away. He had a place. I had nowhere to go. We loved each other right off the bat, so I moved in.





How did you discover that your apartment is rent stabilized?

After being in the East Village for awhile my husband knows a lot of people who have been here their entire lives. He asked them if they had any experience with rent stabilization. They said he needed to contact GOLES and look into our rent history. You can get it for free. As soon as we did this, it was a window that opened to the world. We didn’t know we could get our rent history from the city. You can go back four years.

My husband lived upstairs for five years. I moved in with him ... the week we met. I lived with him for a couple of years upstairs, and now downstairs in this apartment for three. We stopped paying rent when we found out all of this information in November. They’ve let us ride out not paying rent because it’s moving that four-year period forward. His time upstairs isn’t going to count since each apartment is separate. We are paying twice as much as we should in this downstairs apartment and upstairs is a little bit less than double.

[The landlord is] trying to run us out. We sit in bed and talk about this all the time and try and figure out what their plan is. We have lawyer-ed up and nobody else did. [Other residents] have all taken the buyout. The first tier was $6,000. A lot of tenants left for $6,000. That was before we discovered that we were rent-stabilized. The second tier of the buyout was $10,000.

For months up until April it was just us in the back building, and then just the tenant across the hall from us. They offered him $15,000 because he stopped paying rent for a couple of months but he didn’t have a lawyer. He didn’t know that he was rent-stabilized. He took the buyout and is staying up the street, crashing with a friend.

You really have to do your research. We paid $2,500 in a retainer to a lawyer, which was really painful, but what we’re going to get in back rent — not a buyout — will be worth it. People need to know that if you don’t check your rent history you will never know if you are actually owed something.

There were only six tenants before us in our apartment since the 1980s and they were all paying $500. Then tenants were listed as living here but their rent was not listed and then it jumped to $1,550. The lawyer did the math. The landlord can only justify massive rent hikes if they put in $20,000 or more in renovations. And they must be able to provide receipts for all of the improvements that were made.

They have not done any of that.

We were never registered as rent-stabilized. None of the apartments in the front building or the back building were registered as rent-stabilized. There are eight apartments in this back building. We are the last ones here. Seven of the other apartments are empty and will be renovated.

The apartment across the hall from us is a mirror image of our apartment. When the tenant was living there he was paying $1,750. We were paying $1,550.

Renovations have begun in the empty apartments in the front building. One tenant was sitting in her living room and a drill came through the wall.

We won’t pay rent till we get the back rent check.



What do you love about your apartment?

I love that there is just enough room for me to paint and we can breathe and it’s still cozy. It’s a little difficult because it’s so tight but it’s made us really close in our marriage. We lost 45 square feet from our apartment upstairs to down here. Which doesn’t seem like a lot but when you’re in it it changes everything. We’re so right on top of each other. I love that we’re a lot closer than we would have been in a larger space and there is nowhere to run and hide. We have to communicate with one another and figure it out.







If you're interested in inviting Susan in to photograph your apartment for an upcoming post, then you may contact her via this email.

Council Member Carlina Rivera introducing bill that would fine Airbnb for undisclosed listings

District 2 City Council Member Carlina Rivera will introduce legislation today that seeks to fine Airbnb for every listing it fails to disclose to the city.

Here's more about the bill via Politico:

The legislation would require online home-sharing companies to submit identifying data about their individual listings to the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement, which is tasked with going after illegal hotel operators. They would have to report the addresses of all booked listings, the hosts' names and their home addresses, as well as the online posting numbers.

The city would be able to fine Airbnb and similar companies between $5,000 and $25,000 for each listing left off the report.

Rivera, sponsor of the bill, told Politico: "[T]o be clear, this bill is not going to punish the operators — it's going to mandate consequences, financial consequences, that apply only to Airbnb, not the operators, if they do not hand over the info that we're requiring. We are trying to get as much info as possible to make links to identify the bad operators."

For their part, Airbnb seeks passage of a state bill that would legitimize its business practice. And Airbnb representatives have suggested that this new city legislation would violate internet privacy laws.

"Let's be clear about who will feel the pain from this bill: seniors who share their space to avoid economic hardship while living on a fixed income; millennials who have opened their doors to pay off student debt; families of color who share their home to stay in their home amidst rising rents," Josh Meltzer, Airbnb's head of policy in the Northeast, said in a prepared statement.

Under state law, residents of most apartment buildings are barred from renting their units for fewer than 30 days unless they are present. Airbnb is reportedly looking to do away with this stipulation, as the Daily News reported in March.

The Real Deal had more about the bill last month. (Find that article here.)

Image via Shutterstock

Suki set for 7th Street

[Photo last Thursday by Derek Berg]

Work continues at 86 E. Seventh St., the sliver of a retail space just east of First Avenue.

Last week, workers removed the sign of the previous tenant, Cafe Che (and later Benny's Burritos & Empanadas), which sold a variety of empanadas.

Word here is that a Japanese restaurant called Suki will be opening in a few weeks...



We don't have any other details about Suki at the moment.


[Photos by Steven]

Mark Merker, who launched Harry's and Benny's Burritos in 1987, opened Cafe Che in April 2017 ... after a brief closure, it returned as Benny's Burritos & Empanadas this past January. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to make the space work, closing for good in March.

The space was home until the fall of 2016 to Abraço, the popular coffee shop/cafe that moved across Seventh Street.

Updated July 2

Suki is now open.

H/T Derek Berg and Steven!

Emmy Squared makes it very official on 1st Avenue

The owners of Emmy Square hoisted the coming soon signage at 83 First Ave. at Fifth Street (the former Three of Cups space) ... this after the recent arrival of the Emmy Square awnings.

The pizzeria is expected to open here later this summer. You can find the menu to their Williamsburg location here.

And Emmy Squared will be using the lower-level space that housed the Three of Cups Lounge... their questionnaire with the CB3 application (PDF here) last month included renderings of the basement space, which will feature an 11-seat bar...



And here's the main-level rendering while we're at it...



Our previous post has more background here.

It's 2 a.m., do you know where your potato pancakes are?

The jazz band Onyx Collective have released "2AM at Veselka," a track from their upcoming album Lower East Suite Part Three. (Parts One and Two came out last year.)

Other tracks from the record, out on June 15, include blog-worthy headlines such as "There Goes the Neighborhood," "Battle of the Bowery" and "Delancey Dilemma."

Band leader Isaiah Barr said that the record is — per Fader — inspired by a tumultuous period in the group's life after being forced out of their original practice space due to rising rent.

H/T Ben!

Wednesday's parting shot

Photo on St. Mark's Place by Derek Berg...

Impromptu

Today was Day 1 for the piano in use in Tompkins Square Park as part of the annual Sing For Hope campaign. Steven shared this photo of Helen the Accordion Lady making music on a different instrument.

Lady JDay designed this piano. Read more about it on this previous post.

The piano will be here through June 24.

9th Precinct beat: dining with a stolen credit card at Veselka; stealing then sprinting with a cane

The NYPD is asking for assistance in tracking down suspects in two recent thefts on Second Avenue...

The man pictured here was captured on 🎥 helping himself to a nice dinner Friday May 25 around 7PM at Veselka Restaurant in the #EastVillage. Only problem is he was using a stolen credit card. If you have any info on him we ask you to call #800577TIPS pic.twitter.com/v8aKcjKqog

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) June 6, 2018

And!

On Thursday May 31 at 2:30PM the man pictured here entered a coffee shop on 2 Ave in the #EastVillage and took a customer's wallet. He uses a cane to help him steal property but sprints away after exiting store. If you have any info on him call #800577TIPS #NYC pic.twitter.com/y8ZfaTbAdp

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) June 5, 2018

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.

Noted

[EVG file photo]

Major changes appear in store for IHOP Way, aka 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Per the Post today:

IHOP says it’s changing its name to IHOb, and it will explain why on Monday.

The 60-year-old franchise’s coy announcement was made on Twitter on Tuesday.

“For 60 pancakin’ years, we’ve been IHOP. Now, we’re flippin’ our name to IHOb. Find out what it could b on 6.11.18. #IHOb”

Grub Street weighs in on the marketing gimmick here.

This IHOP location opened in September 2011.

Tokuyama Salon Cafe now serving coffee and croissants on 6th Street

The owner of Tokuyama Salon at 627 E. Sixth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C recently took over ownership of the cafe next door ... the Tokuyama Salon Cafe sells a variety of coffee drinks (they serve Counter Coulter Coffee) and croissants, muffins, scones etc. ...





The cafe is open Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

The space was previously Bakeri NYC, which decided to move on at the end of April.

Bottom two images via Facebook

New retail space hits the market at 116 St. Mark's Place

The ground-floor space at No. 116 between Avenue A and First Avenue Avenue recently arrived on the market.

The listing notes that the 900-square-feet of space (plus 500 square feet out back) is "Perfect for Cafe, Wine Bar, etc. All uses considered. Landlord will vent."

The retail listing coincides with the sale of the building, which was recorded on May 25. Public records show that the seller, 116 Saint Marks Place LLC, sold the five-story building to 116 St. Marks LLC for $5 million. (The buyer shares the address with Cecora Investment Advisers, a diversified commercial real estate investment brokerage and consulting company.)

The potential retail was (or is) home to a Ukrainian religious organization, which you can read about here (keep scrolling).

Third Street Music School's free noontime summer music series starts tomorrow

[Click on image for more details]

Third Street Music School's free, outdoor summer concert series starts tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. in front of St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery on 10th Street and Second Avenue.

Via the EVG inbox...

These lunchtime concerts present professional bands representing musical traditions from around the world, including Klezmer, Flamenco, Jazz, Eastern European and Asian, and features Third Street students participating in the school's summer chamber music workshop.

June 7 – Art Baron & Friends
June 14 – David Moreno
June 21 – Arturo O'Farrill Sextet
June 28 – Eve Sicular and Isle of Klezbos
July 5 – Arthur Lipner and Brazilian Vibes
July 12 – Third Street Chamber Music Players
July 19 – Gypsy Jazz Caravan

Find more info on the musicians here.